World class is a term that’s probably banded about a bit too loosely these days. The very definition means that player would have to be among the best in the world to be considered it. According to Fabio Capello, Romelu Lukaku doesn’t fit into that category.
It’s been a pretty tough week for the Belgian after being racially abused last weekend by Cagliari fans, so you imagine this isn’t that high on his list of things to worry about.
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It’s still a big knock on the striker who is expected to lead the line for Inter as Antonio Conte tries to make them contend for titles again.
Football Italia reported on some comments Capello made to Italian radio about Inter’s new signings. He said:”Lukaku is a good player with good movement. He scored two goals, one was a penalty and the other an error from the goalkeeper. He is of use on the field, but is not world class.”
It’s probably a fair enough comment from the former England manager. Lukaku is certainly a very good player but his record against bigger teams and final season at Old Trafford shows you can’t reasonably consider him to be among the best in the world.
He’s had a decent start to his Inter career with two goals in his first to games. If he can be prolific and take Inter deep in the Champions League then perhaps Capello might re-evaluate that opinion at the end of the season.
He also briefly talked about Alexis Sanchez by suggesting he “can make a difference if he wants to”. It suggests he feels the Chilean’s work rate is questionable but I might be reading into that one too much.
There’s no doubt both players under performed in Manchester, it should be clearer after this season if Solskjaer made a mistake or if he was correct to move them on. Sanchez only scored three Premier League goals for the club while Lukaku looked out of form last season too.